I have read all the submissions about this and I know that if I do install one (I am looking at a pop-up) that I will have to cut the center beam support. What I want is a great photo of the underside of the roof so I can get an idea of what I may deal with since I currently have not taken off my headliner off as of yet.

I have put one in a former pickup that I had, a 1980 Dodge D50, but it was a standard cab and only had sheetmetal to cut, no roof support. It did make a huge difference in cooling in the summer (I live in south/cental Texas) since you can crack it open to suck out the heat while going down the road.

I am open to any and all suggestions and I thank you in advance for all replies.

 

if something happens, and you flip the truck, your dead.

If you plan to seriously do this, look into getting a back rack, or roll bar of some sort.

 

Id get it done professionaly so they brace the roof again.

 

almost no one will brace the roof after installing a sunroof. how would you brace it? only good strong way is roll cage

 

you can cave the roof in easily with the brace still in. it's more so there to help the sheet metal from flapping in the wind as you drive. the support to keep the roof from folding in comes from the a, b, and c pillars, along with the doors, not the sheet metal brace under the roof skin.

 

ya know, I dont think the roof of my cab is metal, I think its plastic tbh

 

x2. An impact is absorbed by the structures perpendicular to it, for the most part. For instance if someone rear ends you, it doesn't really matter if your tailgate & bumper is on or off, because it's the bedsides, floor, and frame rails that are going to take the force of the crash.

I don't have a picture of how my sunroof is setup underneath my headliner, because the headliner fabric is attached to the sunroof itself and I don't want to take it down without intentions of replacing it. I do know that you'll love your sunroof once you get it!

 

WELL EXPLAINED.. props for being cool and not shitting all over his idea.

 

I have actually thought about getting a sun roof, since I have the roll bar... Does yours leak?

 

i installed my own. never have had a drop of water come through it. been in the truck around 5 years now.

 

pics?

 

Roof supports are a joke. (coming from the frame guy)

Sunroofs are pretty cool, You'll find a bunch of sheet metal with a support under there, it isn't anything special I recommend using an angle grider to do the cuts. i've seen plenty of guys thing Sawzall's will do the trick and when they're done, their roof looks like a Lay's Wavy Potato chip.

 

Yeah, I was planning on doing a simple pop-up, nothing fancy. I had did one before but there weren't any roof supports and the frame for the sunroof actually stiffened up the roof quite a bit. Once I actually start working I may go ahead and do it! I will remember to put a sheet on the inside to catch all the metal shavings!

I used a jigsaw last time and it worked very well so I will use that again. I cut a little and then use duct tape to hold the metal in place so it won't fall and possibly bend or tear the metal.

 

just curious, why would you go through all that trouble and make your truck unsafe, for a sunroof??? Its not like its gonna get you laid...

 

I don't worry about getting laid since I am married and I am still doing research on it to see if it would make my truck unsafe. In 30 years of driving I have never rolled a vehicle over and that little brace is not going to help much if you do rollover. Like I said, I am still researching it and I don't do any offroading which will decrease my chances of a rollover. I had one before and liked how cool it can make your pickup on the inside by getting rid of the hot air once you start moving.

 

my friends old s10 had a flip up sun roof and i've seen a few rangers with them added too. I can't find the pics of the guy who had one

 

oh, lol... the laid part was kinda a joke...was just thinking of what the benefits were for something like that. I guess if you did have a sunroof, you could stick your hand out and make come-hither hand motions to the pretty ladies as you drive by ' em

Itd be cool though if you did pull it off, Id like to see some pics!

 

They are pretty cool to have, but that is my opinion and I know some don't like them. It helps alot to get the heat out of the vehicle since heat rises and you can put heat resistant film on them so that my bald head won't get burned! lol

It is a pain to install them, I would need a whole day to do one myself and I need to get ear protection before I started cutting (I already have eye protection).

My feeling is this: I don't plan on getting rid of her anytime soon and I have already invested in LED tailights, new front bumper, bed liner and a few other things and I do miss the one sunroof I did have.

I will post pics if/when I do decide to do this.

 

Troys

 

I've never had any leaks in mine either. I keep meaning to get some more detailed pictures of it, but for now I only have one:



It automatically closes when I turn the ignition off, which is pretty neat.

 

Thats pretty nice. =P

What did your electric one run you?

 

Thanks Dave for posting mine. I paid $0 for my first one. it was one we replaced at the shop. got the old one. worked for about a year, then completely died. bought the same one, but brand new. ran around $350 for the unit.

i love the air flow it creates. i can open the sunroof and the back window and get a small flow of air, crack the side windows and get some more, or roll both side windows down and a ton of air moves. keeps me from using the a/c.

 

where did you get it from?

 

donmar.com. they do not sell to the general public. dealer install only. i just happen to work for a dealer. :)

 

Naughton, do you have the same one as Troy? The auto close feature would be nice but I could see on hot days it becoming a pain.